THUNDERBOLTS

Thunderbolts prepare for action

THUNDERBOLTS (2025). Director: Jake Schreier. 

Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) runs black ops for the government -- her group is called Oxe -- but is coming under scrutiny from Congress. She decides to eliminate several of her operatives by unknowingly pitting them against one another in a warehouse where each has been told to "take out' whoever is there. These include Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh); John Walker or U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell), who briefly filled in for Captain America; Yelena's father, formerly the Russian hero the Red Guardian (David Harbour); Bucky Barnes or the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), Captain America's one-time partner; Ava Starr, a woman who can dematerialize and is also known as the Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen); and Robert Reynolds, an "experiment" in creating super-heroes that resulted in both Sentry and his evil alter ego, the Void (Lewis Pullman). Instead of destroying one another, these six second stringers decide to team up as the Thunderbolts to take down Valentina. But it won't be easy when the Void takes over Robert and has him apparently vaporizing most of Manhattan ... 

Louis-Dreyfus and Wendell Pierce

Most of the above characters originally appeared in Marvel comic books decades ago and their cinematic counterparts are alternate versions of them. Thunderbolts was also a comic about a group of villains pretending to be heroes for their own gain, but eventually metamorphosing into genuine good guys. Sentry was a member of the Avengers for a time as well. Valentina was not a ruthless villainess (pretending to be a good guy) in the comics as she is in this and other Marvel movies, but she is very well played by Louis-Dreyfus. The other cast members, including Wendell Pierce as Congressman Gary, are also notable. People who are completely unfamiliar with the comics will wonder who the hell some of these people are -- I certainly did!

Sentry (Lewis Pullman) goes after Val

Thunderbolts only really gets going late in the movie when Sentry, under the influence of Valentina, goes on the rampage, with some effective action and FX work. Unfortunately, this sequence is much too brief, and dissipates into some tiresome dream-type sequences with the members of the Tbolts encountering images from their pasts. Thunderbolts is also much too long, considering how little of the film is really memorable. At the end of the film Val pulls a fast one and rechristens the team the New Avengers, but it is highly debatable if this team will have any staying power. Florence Pugh also appeared in Don't Worry Darling, and is so different (and versatile) that you will hardly recognize her. 

Verdict: Fair to middling Marvel movie will probably disappoint most fans. **1/2. 

THE PSYCHOPATH

THE PSYCHOPATH (1966). Director: Freddie Francis.

Despite its title and the fact that it was written by Robert Bloch (who wrote the novel Hitchcock's Psycho was based upon), The Psychopath is not quite a psycho-shocker with an emphasis on gruesome deaths (although there are some of those, of course, but they're not too graphic). Rather it's a comparatively tasteful mystery about a series of murders of men who may have wrongly accused a German man of being a war criminal. The man's widow, Mrs. Von Sturm (Margaret Johnston) and son Mark (John Standing) are suspects, but there are other possibilities as well. The killer leaves dolls that resemble the victims at the scene of each murder. The mystery deepens when people who have no connection to the Von Sturm's start being targeted. Absorbing, well-acted thriller (Johnston is particularly good if slightly hammy at times) is no Psycho but it has its moments (including some awkward, stilted ones). There's a good climactic fight in a shipyard (with classical music in the background) and an effective credit sequence with evocative music by Elisabeth Lutyens. Patrick Wymark is the inspector on the case; he's bland but more than competent. The epilogue when the killer is finally revealed is nicely chilling and disturbing. 

Verdict: This is suspenseful stuff in a minor key. ***. 

M3GAN 2.0

Gemma and M3gan

M3GAN 2.0 (2025). Director: Gerard Johnstone. 

In this sequel to the unremarkable M3gan, the robot's inventor, Gemma (Allison Williams), discovers -- when FBI agents knock on her door -- that there is a rogue government android, Amelia (Ovanna Sakhno), who seems to have developed her own agenda. Gemma is accused of being behind this, and even of being a traitor. Then she learns that M3gan's consciousness might still be active -- could she be of help or only cause more trouble? This all leads to the complicated unraveling of a terrible conspiracy ... 

Ovanna Sakhno and Jemaine Clemont

M3gan 2.0 is one of the only movies that I found entertaining and yet boring at the same time! For one thing, at two hours it is way too long. There is a lot of messy, often dull and silly running around to what seems like little purpose. The snippets of humor are sometimes genuinely amusing, however. Jemaine Clemont is quite funny and adept as shady tech billionaire Alton Appleton and Aristotle Athari scores as Gemma's friend and colleague, Christian. Jenna Davis and Sakhno are perfect as the wily robots. The frequent discussions of artificial intelligence, especially its dangers, are often interesting. The large supporting cast is game. But this is nothing that I would ever want to sit through again. 

Verdict: Both savvy and dumb. **1/4. 

PRETTY POISON

PRETTY POISON (1968). Director: Noel Black.

A twisted romance develops between a disturbed young man named Dennis Pitt (Anthony Perkins of Chillers) and an even more disturbed young woman named Sue Ann Stepanek (Tuesday Weld). Pitt, who was institutionalized for a time, draws Sue Ann into games in which he pretends he's a CIA agent involving her in his dangerous assignments. This leads to more than one murder and a plot by Pitt to get even with the man who fired him. Reasonably entertaining film holds the attention and features some good performances -- especially from Beverly Garland as Sue Ann's unpleasant mother -- and is very well photographed by David Quaid. Good supporting performances from John Randolph and Dick O'Neill (of Gammera, the Invincible). Screenplay by Lorenzo Semple Jr. Noel Black also directed Prime Suspect. 

Verdict: Some good moments but nothing really special. **1/2.

GHOST OF ZORRO

Clayton Moore as grandson of Zorro

GHOST OF ZORRO (12-chapter Republic serial/1949). Director: Fred C. Brannon. Colorized version. 

Ken Mason (Clayton Moore), grandson of Don Diego Vega, the original Zorro, is in New Mexico after the Civil War where Rita White (Pamela Blake) hopes to build a telegraph line beginning in Twin Bluffs. Bad guys George Crane (Gene Roth) and Hank Kilgore (Roy Barcroft), along with a host of other desperadoes, fear that the telegraph will help bring law and order to the territory. Ken is importuned by his buddy, Moccasin (George J. Lewis), to ride as Zorro to combat the various schemes of Crane and the others, and this he does. Explosions, attacks by Indians working with Crane, wagons flying over cliffsides, and more will not keep Zorro and Rita from completing that telegraph line. 

George J. Lewis and Pamela Blake

A sort of sequel to Son of Zorro, this is a cut below that serial but still entertaining and frequently exciting. Marshall Reed and Tom Steele are two of the nasty gunsels, and the latter gets a bit more to do than usual. George J. Lewis proves his versatility, as he often played bad guys as he did in Federal Operator 99 and many others. Pamela Blake was in a number of serials as well as Daltons' Women with Lash LaRue, but in this production she is competent but lacks enough oomph. Cliffhanger serials aren't always logical, but I'm still scratching my head over a scene in chapter two in which Mason/Zorro, riding behind Rita in a wagon, jumps off his horse, climbs a cliff, and somehow manages to jump into said wagon which is now, impossibly, behind him. (If the wagon went around some kind of curve, the logistics of this aren't shown.) Still, Ghost of Zorro is fun.

Verdict: Probably not the last gasp for Zorro. **3/4. 

RING-A-DING RHYTHM

Craig Douglas and Helen Shapiro

RING-A-DING RHYTHM (aka It's Trad, Dad/1962). Director: Richard Lester.  

The mayor (Felix Felton) of a small British town is convinced that the new music the kids are playing is not only disturbing the peace, but lowering moral values. Craig (Craig Douglas) and Helen (Helen Shapiro) think the answer is to organize a jazz festival to show that the music is not that bad, but who can they get to host it? They travel to a studio to try to find a host, and encounter a large number of both British and American musical acts. But can they convince the mayor of the rightness of their cause?

"Another Tear Falls:" Gene McDaniels

Douglas and Shapiro were minor singers in the UK who were tapped to essentially host this concert movie, which makes use of such acts as The Paris Sisters, Gary (U.S.) Bonds, Gene Vincent, the Brook Brothers, Del Shannon, Chubby Checker, and others, most of whom (with the exception of Checker) are forgotten today. The musical highlight is the very talented Gene McDaniels singing "Another Tear Falls." Douglas has a pleasant voice and appealing manner, but Shapiro's voice is very odd and too deep. John Leyton (of The Idol) is billed as a special guest star, but he only shows up to sing one number. The final segment features some excellent Dixieland jazz bands, and the mayor finally gets to shaking his booty! Director Richard Lester assures that the movie is visually inventive, although producer Milton Subotsky's "script" doesn't amount to much. Lester later directed two films starring the Beatles as well as Superman III. From Amicus studios. 

Verdict: Musically interesting, but not much of a movie. **. 

AN UNLOCKED WINDOW: ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR

T. C. Jones, Louise Latham, Dana Wynter

AN UNLOCKED WINDOW: The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. (Season 3, episode 17/1965).  Directed by Joseph M. Newman. 

In the middle of a thunder storm, two nurses, Stella (Dana Wynter of The View from Pompey's Head) and Betty (T. C. Jones), and a cook/housekeeper (Louise Latham of Marnie), are alone in the house with their patient, Glendon (John Kerr), who is in bed in an oxygen tent. The caretaker has been sent off to get another tank of oxygen, and the ladies are nervous because several nurses in the area have been murdered by an unknown maniac. Stella is determined to make certain that every door and window in the house is locked, but down in the basement she is startled by a mouse, and forgets to lock a window swinging in the wind ... Something nags at Stella, who does seem forgetful at times, as Betty reminds her.

Nurses in the bedroom with John Kerr

Based on a story by Ethel Lina White, and with a script by James Bridges, An Unlocked Window is one of the most memorable episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. The big reveal at the end is not as shocking as it was back in the sixties, and if you know anything about the actors you will be clued in early on, but the program is still quite suspenseful and well-acted (even if in some scenes Wynter doesn't act quite as terrified as she should). The show is well-directed by Joseph M. Newman for maximum tension. Admittedly there is one scene that is a bit of a cheat, rather impossible in fact -- people simply can't be in two places at once -- but this doesn't completely ruin things (blame it on the editing).  Busy director Newman's most famous film is probably This Island Earth. Writer James Bridges later directed such films as The China Syndrome and Urban Cowboy. 

Verdict: Very creepy, with a chilling finale -- you just can't trust anyone, can you? ***. 

VIOLENT BLOOD BATH

 VIOLENT BLOOD BATH (aka Pena de Muerte/Penalty of Death/1974). Director: Jorge Grau. 

Oscar Bataille (Fernando Rey of The French Connection and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie) is a French prosecutor who is married to the younger Patricia (Marisa Mell), whom he neglects. At a resort hotel, Patricia runs into an old flame, Wilson (Espartaco Santoni), who -- unlike Oscar -- objects to the death penalty and wants to interview and debate him on the subject. He also wants to renew his romantic relationship with Patricia, although she insists that she loves her husband and resists Wilson's entreaties. When a family is slaughtered in the town, Oscar realizes that the murder scene recreates one of the terrible crimes he prosecuted. Oscar is afraid that more copycat murders will follow, and on this he is right. As Wilson and Patricia become closer, Inspector Navarro (Julian Navarro) investigates two unlikely suspects in the form of plain would-be actress Laura (Elisa Laguna) and her temporary boyfriend, actor Javier Duran (Maximo Valverde). One of these people will also become a victim. Then Patricia finds a certain scarf draped over a dead body and begins to wonder if her husband is losing his mind ... 

Fernando Rey falls asleep watching Violent Blood Bath

Violent Blood Bath is the lurid English title of a Spanish thriller that contains very few thrills. While the movie doesn't quite go in the direction you think it will, once it makes up its mind it doesn't deviate, meaning there is no final twist and nothing of much interest happening on the screen. If you're a gore geek hoping for a literal "blood bath," be advised that all of the murders occur off-screen. When the scene comes along in which Fernando Rey is napping in his bed, you may think your time would be better spent doing the same (without Rey) instead of sitting through this movie. 

Verdict: Pretty much a waste of ninety minutes. *1/2. 

SON OF ZORRO

Zorro in action!

SON OF ZORRO (13-chapter Republic serial/1947). Directors: Spencer Gordon Bennet; Fred C. Brannon. Colorized version. 

In a post-Civil War period rancher Jeffrey Stewart (George Turner) returns to Box County and discovers that crooked politicians and their cronies have taken over. These include Judge Hyde (Ernie Adams), Sheriff Moody (Ed Cassidy), a desperado named Boyd (Roy Barcroft of Manhunt of Mystery Island), and others, all of whom report to a mysterious "Chief" behind the scenes. Jeff has two main allies: his foreman Pancho (Stanley Price of The Invisible Monster), and the post-mistress, Kate Wells (Peggy Stewart of When the Clock Strikes). These and others who are opposed to the plans of the Chief will have a tough time fighting off his sinister schemes. Pancho gives Jeff the idea of dressing up as his ancestor, the famous Zorro!

George Turner as Jeff Stewart

Son of Zorro is an exciting, well-made Republic serial with lots of action, lively well-choreographed fist fights, and a snappy musical score. George Turner is fine and appealing in the actor's only starring role, and the other cast members add some zest as well.  Memorable cliffhangers include a huge ore crusher that threatens to smush Kate; an avalanche caused by dynamite; our hero and Kate trapped by rushing water inside a cave; a wagon that hurtles off a cliff during a landslide; an inferno in the jail where Kate and Jeff are trapped; and others. Other familiar players in the serial include Ken Terrell and Tom Steele as bad guys. Price isn't entirely convincing as the Hispanic foreman, and the identity of the Chief comes as no great surprise. 

Verdict: Highly entertaining and fast-paced western serial. ***. 

GIRL ON THE RUN

Efrem Zimbalist Jr.

GIRL ON THE RUN (1958). Director: Richard L. Bare. 

Private investigator Stu Bailey (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) is hired by a man to find a young lady named Kathy Allen (Erin O'Brien), a singer who has changed her name and is working in a nightclub. Bailey doesn't know that Kathy ran off after she witnessed a murder -- a labor leader was shot in a parking lot -- and felt that the police couldn't protect her (a sniper fired into the hotel room where the cops were guarding her). We know the identity of the perpetrator from the first: a district attorney named McCullough (Shepperd Strudwick), who is obviously as dirty as they come. Once Bailey finds out the truth his job is two-fold: protect Kathy (and himself) and ferret out the identity of the murderer and her tormentor. Meanwhile a hit man named Smiley (Edd Byrnes of Reform School Girl) is also on the trail. 

Edd Byrnes as the smiling psychopath

Stuart Bailey was introduced in novels written by Roy Huggins, then appeared on two episodes of Conflict, an anthology series, where he was also played by Zimbalist. Girl on the Run was a telefilm that also served as the pilot for 77 Sunset Strip, the long-running LA-based private eye show. Girl on the Run was released as a theatrical feature in non-USA markets. Although playing a sleazy bad guy in this, there were things about Byrnes' portrayal that appealed to producer William Orr, and when the series started, Byrnes was retained in a good guy role ("Kookie") who shared some of the more benign qualities of the hit man Smiley.  A hilarious aspect to this is that every time Byrnes appears, we hear the kind of sexy music that is usually associated with beautiful babes -- it's weird. Even weirder that the Byrnes "theme" was retained for 77 Sunset Strip! A funny sequence has the hitman laughing at a Daffy Duck cartoon in a movie house.

Erin O'Brian

Despite knowing who the villain is from the first, Girl on the Run has some suspense as Bailey, well-played by Zimbalist, tries to outwit both Smiley and McCullough (well-played by Strudwick). Erin O'Brian also delivers in her role of the somewhat feisty but frightened witness. Harry Lauter (of The Louisiana Hussy) plays a man that Bailey hires to play drunk and annoy Kathy so that he can come to her rescue. Marion Hargove did the screenplay and Howard Jackson composed the score.

Verdict: An interesting intro to 77 Sunset Strip. **1/2. 

MY DEAR KILLER

MY DEAR KILLER (aka Mio caro assassino/1971. Director: Tonino Valerii.

Inspector Luca Peretti (George Hilton) is called in when a man named Paradisi (Francesco Di Federico) is beheaded by an excavator machine which he had rented to dig into a swamp. Peretti discovers that Paradisi was an insurance investigator, and had been assigned to a case where a little girl, Stefania, was kidnapped, with dire results. As Peretti tries to learn more about this case, there are a whole series of other killings, with the victims always being somehow involved with the kidnapping even in oblique ways. One teacher is attacked by an assailant wielding a portable saw. Peretti gathers the suspects together and confronts them with a surprise bit of evidence that the child herself was directly responsible for. 

George Hilton investigates

My Dear Killer is a complex, often fascinating giallo that seems a touch far-fetched at times but never goes completely over the edge. George Hilton [The Dark is Death's Friend] is fine as the detective, as is William Berger [The Murder Clinic] as one of the suspects. Both actors appeared in a number of international productions and horror films. Ennio Morricone's musical score is quirky and unnerving and adds much to the film's effectiveness. Director Tonino Valerii stages some sequences quite well and the film is undeniably creepy and suspenseful. Not quite on the Dario Argento level but interesting.

Verdict: Imperfect but effective giallo with some striking sequences and an interesting plot. ***. 

DAUGHTER OF DON Q

Delores hangs on for dear life!

DAUGHTER OF DON Q (12-chapter Republic serial/1946). Directors: Spencer Gordon Bennet; Fred C. Brannon.

Delores Quantero (Lorna Gray appearing as Adrian Booth) is one of the descendants of the wealthy Don Quantero. She is unaware that a greedy and sociopathic cousin named Carlos Manning (LeRoy Mason) has learned that Quantero's heirs may be in for millions due to certain land grants. Manning wants all the money for himself and hires Mel Donovan (Roy Barcroft) to kill Delores and all of the others! With the aid of reporter Cliff Roberts (Kirk Alyn), Delores tries to warn her scattered relatives and keep herself alive during repeated attacks. 

Roy Barcroft corners Kirk Alyn

Daughter of Don Q is another exciting and snappy Republic serial with plenty of action, bone-crushing fist fights and some terrific cliffhangers, including Delores hanging onto a curtain for dear life, a huge pane of glass that threatens to become a guillotine, and a rail car loaded with explosives that is heading directly for a racing train. The climax on a bridge with Delores trapped inside a crate and dangling on the railing is absolutely thrilling! 

Verdict: Nifty Republic serial! ***. 

THE POE CINEMA: A Critical Filmography.

THE POE CINEMA: A Critical Filmography. Don G. Smith. McFarland; 1999. 

Author Smith looks at films that have been based on or influenced by the works of Edgar Allan Poe in this well-written, illustrated tome, beginning with the silent period. Sometimes the only connection to Poe is the title. Films covered include the Corman films such as The Fall of the House of Usher and The Premature Burial, the British Tell-Tale Heart with Laurence Payne, Italian films like Castle of Terror with Barbara Steele, German flicks such as The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism with Lex Barker, various versions of The Masque of the Red Death, and many, many others. Smith even includes such oddities as the 1989 slasher entitled Buried Alive starring Robert Vaughn. Each essay in The Poe Cinema has background notes and solid critical observations. Absorbing, informative, and highly interesting.  

Verdict: Possibly the last word on the Poe influence on movies. ***1/2. 

HAWAIIAN EYE Season One

Connie Stevens, Anthony Eisley, Robert Conrad

HAWAIIAN EYE TV series Season One (1959).

77 Sunset Strip was such a successful private eye show that Warner Brothers producer William Orr decided to use the same formula -- good-looking guys involved with dames and intrigue -- on a series set in Honolulu instead of Los Angeles and the result was Hawaiian Eye. Anthony Eisley and Robert Conrad played the detectives, who have an office complete with bedrooms and swimming pool inside the Hawaiian Village Hotel (which still exists) for which they do security. They also have time to take cases for people who are being threatened or searching for someone who's disappeared etc. 

Douglas Mossman as Moke

There are two other recurring characters, the cab driver and kibitzer Kim (Poncie Ponce), and the singing photographer Cricket Blake (Connie Stevens). Cricket is a petulant, annoying, 12-year-old in a woman's body who has a serious crush on Tracy Steele (Eisner of The Wasp Woman). She not only adds little to the program -- there are plenty of attractive women in the stories -- but her contract obviously gives her the right to sing a song in virtually every episode. This wouldn't be a problem if it weren't for the fact that Stevens' whispery so-called singing is pretty mediocre. Actually Poncie Ponce, who like Stevens is afflicted with terminal cuteness, has a much better voice and is a more talented singer. Others who appeared frequently in the first season and afterward include handsome Hawaiian native Douglas Mossman as security officer Moke and Mel Prestidge  as Lt. Danny Quan, another native Hawaiian who was also a real-life sheriff at the time the show was filming. 

Anthony Eisley and Robert Conrad

Hawaiian Eye was a good and entertaining series if not necessarily a great one. It lasted four seasons, however. Notable episodes include "Beach Boy" with Troy Donahue, Faith Domergue and Robert Lowery in a story of a young man who may or may not be the wealthy heir who supposedly drowned ten years earlier. "Secret of the Second Door" features Harry Bartell in a story of a woman who wants Tom Lopaka (Conrad) to find a stolen cache of money. "Dead Ringer" stars an excellent Dianne Foster and Warren Stevens in a tale of a sinister plot that enfolds Lopaka simply because he resembles Foster's husband. "The Kikiki Kid" stars John Gabriel as a nightclub singer with major show biz aspirations who pursues and romances a columnist (Jean Byron) who can help him while neglecting his wife (Myrna Hansen). Kim is accused of stealing a diamond worth half a million dollars in "Cut of Ice" with Robert Clarke and Frank Albertson. 

Verdict: Fun colorful series with interesting leads and guest performers. ***. 

KING OF THE MOUNTIES

Allan Lane returns as Sgt. Dave King

KING OF THE MOUNTIES (12-chapter Republic serial/1942). Director: William Witney. Colorized version.

After the success of King of the Royal Mounted, Allan Lane was brought back as Sgt. Dave King of the RCMP in this new cliffhanger with even more formidable adversaries. A deadly triumvirate consisting of Japanese admiral Yamata (Abner Biberman); German Marshal Von Horst (Wilhelm von Brincken); and Italian Count Boroni (Nestor Paiva) are working behind the scenes to destroy Canada. Professor Brent (George Irving of Spy Ship) has invented a special device that can detect the activities of the Axis trio's "Falcon," a rocket-controlled aircraft which takes the group into their HQ inside an active volcano. Traitors working for the Axis include Blake (Bradley Page) and Harper (Douglass Dumbrille of The Catman of Paris), with Anthony Warde and Jay Novello on board for more nefarious activity. William Bakewell plays another Mountie and associate of King's, Peggy Drake is Brent's daughter, Carol, and Duncan Renaldo is Harper's right-hand Pierre. 

Axis trio: Paiva, Biberman and von Brincken

King of the Mounties is another exciting serial with Lane making the most of his role, and such memorable cliffhangers as a car exploding with Carol inside it; King being dropped right out of the bomb bay of the Falcon; planes colliding in mid-air; and a runaway car that smacks into King as he stands at the edge of a cliff. As usual, you can easily lose count of how many fist fights with broken furniture there are -- at least two in every chapter -- and there are plenty of chases and breathless escapes. The actors are all game as well. There's a splendid climax inside the exploding volcano where our villains come to a satisfying ending. 

Verdict: Fine follow-up to King of the Royal Mounted. ***. 

CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD

Captain America takes flight

CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD (2025). Director: Julius Onah.

Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), formerly known as the Falcon, has become the new Captain America but kept his wings. He has a difficult relationship with the U.S. President, Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (Harrison Ford), who apparently made a deal with the devil, a sick character named Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson), who is manipulating everyone behind the scenes. (Sterns is a variation of the Leader from Hulk comic books.) While Wilson and his partner Joaquin (Danny Ramirez) investigate when old friend Isiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) seems to try to assassinate Ross, they uncover Stern's secret laboratory and eventually join forces with security adviser Ruth Bat-Seraph (Shira Haas) to take him down. But before that can happen Sam has to try to stay alive as Ross, transformed into the powerful and humongous Red Hulk, tries to do what the Hulk does best -- smash! 

The Red Hulk about to rampage through Washington D.C.

Captain America: Brave New World may have gotten lukewarm reviews, but I found it quite entertaining and suspenseful, and the Cap-Hulk battle is a decided highlight. Instead of the Serpent Society featured in Captain America comic books, there is a sinister (essentially unseen) group called SERPENT, of which the deadly Sidewinder (a zesty Giancarlo Esposito) is a member, along with Copperhead (who has less to do). Then there's a place called Celestial Island where there is a huge amount of adamantium, which Ross wants the U.S. to get his hands on, briefly bringing him into conflict with the Japanese. Mackie makes an excellent alternate Captain America, the large supporting cast is game, and Harrison Ford simply gives one of the all-time best performances of his long career. 

Verdict: There's still quite a bit of life in those Marvel Movies. ***. 

DAY THE WORLD ENDED

Mike Connors and Adele Jergens

DAY THE WORLD ENDED (1955). Produced and directed by Roger Corman. In SuperScope. Colorized version. 

The world has been mostly destroyed in an atomic war. In a sheltered valley, scientist Jim Madison (Paul Birch) and his daughter, Louise (Lori Nelson of Hot Rod Girl), horde food supplies and mourn the apparent death of Louise's fiance. Over Madison's objections, several people converge on the house: gun-toting crook Tony (Mike Connors); his hard-boiled if slightly soft-in-the-middle moll, Ruby (Adele Jergens); the old prospector Pete (Raymond Hatton of Girls in Prison) and his beloved donkey; handsome geologist Rick (Richard Denning of Assignment Redhead); and Radek (Paul Dubov), a man so contaminated by radiation that he's transforming into a mutant who prefers raw meat. Meanwhile, hovering around the house is a fully-transformed mutation who might have some connection to Louise even as Tony makes a play for Louise, Ruby seethes, and Rick does what he can to protect the frightened young lady from rape.

Day the World Ended is an absorbing melodrama which has some surprisingly adept performances -- even Nelson is better than usual -- and a creepy atmosphere. The monster (Paul Blaisdell) somewhat resembles one of the Zanti Misfits that later turned up on The Outer Limits. The characters could be categorized as types, but Lou Russoff's screenplay adds some dimension to them. It's interesting that the hood Tony never touches alcohol, and ill-fated Ruby is so devoted to her man even though she knows he's a total crumb-bun. Several years before Night of the Living Dead, this movie has man-eating ghouls, although in this case it's the living eating the dead instead of the other way around. As usual there's an interesting score by Ronald Stein. 

Verdict: Low-budget yet intriguing end of the world (more or less) story with Corman's customary cheap flair. ***. 

DROP

Meghann Fahy and Brandon Sklenar

DROP (2025). Director: Christopher Landon. 

Violet (Meghann Fahy) has not been on a date since the death of her abusive husband, but she seems to have met a likable guy in photographer Henry (Brandon Sklenar). They have chosen a truly fabulous, swanky high-rise restaurant for their first date, but there's a decided complication when she gets threatening messages on her smart phone. Then the security system shows a masked intruder with a gun in the home where her little boy, Toby, is being babysat by his aunt. Violet is told if she tells the police or anyone what's going on, Toby will die, and then is given instructions for poisoning her date ... 

Meghann Fahy

Drop certainly sets up an intriguing situation and is very suspenseful as a desperate Meghann, unable to tell Henry what is really going on, wonders who else sitting in the same restaurant is behind this horrible scheme. There isn't a dull moment in the picture, which turns violent and melodramatic towards the very end. Fahy, Sklenar and the rest of the cast give solid performances, and the film is well directed by Christopher Landon, the son of Michael Landon. (Landon also directed Happy Death Day.) There is one moment that is a bit of a cheat, but otherwise the plot, while far-fetched, doesn't seem too illogical. 

Verdict: Quite good but somehow not a classic. ***. 

COMPANION

Sophie Thatcher as Iris

COMPANION (2025). Written and directed by Drew Hancock.

Josh (Jack Quaid) brings his girlfriend Iris (Sophie Thatcher of The Boogeyman) to the impressive home of Sergey (Rupert Friend) for a weekend in the country. Other guests include Sergey's girlfriend Kat (Megan Suri) and the gay couple Eli (Harvey Guillan) and Patrick (Lukas Gage). It isn't long, however, before one of those aforementioned winds up dead, and a highly bizarre secret is revealed. Then it's a question of who will be left alive before it's all over and the chase is on.

Jack Quaid

I have deliberately not revealed too much of the plot of Companion because I knew little about it when I watched it and I think that made it all the more surprising and entertaining, as it has several twists. Initially I felt that this bizarre story would work better in a shorter length, but the film managed to keep me absorbed in any case, and is well-acted by all. I will say that Companion is a far-fetched but compelling black comedy that does borrow from a few other films for its basic premise, but manages to strike an original tone as well. Jack Quaid is the son of Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan.

Verdict: Into the Twilight Zone. ***. 

BATMAN AND ROBIN

The dynamic duo!

BATMAN AND ROBIN (15 chapter Columbia serial/1949). Director: Spencer Gordon Bennet. Colorized. 

Commissioner Gordon (Lyle Talbot) calls in Batman and Robin to help him with a sinister foe called the Wizard who uses a remote control device and can even turn himself invisible at times. Also investigating is reporter Vicki Vale (Jane Adams), who hangs out at the estate of always-tired Bruce Wayne (Robert Lowery) and his ward Dick (Johnny Duncan), and whose brother Jimmy (George Offerman Jr.) is a member of the Wizard's gang. Suspects as to the true identity of the Wizard include dyspeptic Professor Hammil (William Fawcett); radio announcer Barry Brown (Rick Vallin); private eye Dunne (Michael Whalen); and Hammil's valet, Carter (Leonard Penn). 

WHO is The Wizard? 

Batman and Robin is one of the best of Columbia's chapterplays, building up real suspense in the final chapters, and featuring exciting fight scenes, chases, and cliffhangers. Lowery and Duncan make a good pair of stalwart heroes, Adams is plucky and pretty, and even Lyle Talbot scores as the commissioner, with Offerman also effective as the ill-fated Jimmy. The Wizard is voiced quite well by Gerald Mohr (of Angry Red Planet). 

Verdict: Despite its obvious absurdities, this chapterplay really plays. ***1/4. 

KRAVEN THE HUNTER

Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Kraven

KRAVEN THE HUNTER (2024). Director: J. C. Chandor.

Sergei Kravanoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is one of two sons of the Russian mobster Nikolai Kravinoff (Russell Crowe). Nikolai has decided that Sergei will be the one he will groom to take over his business, but Sergei is having none of it. Instead of working with and for his hated father, he becomes a feared, intense vigilante known as Kraven, even breaking into prisons to murder gangsters. The question is: will he also kill his own father? 

Fully transformed, the Rhino confronts Kraven

In stories published by Marvel Comics, Kraven was a persistent Spider-Man foe who considered himself the world's greatest hunter (in the movie Kraven sees himself as the world's greatest man-hunter), and who wanted to bag Spidey as a challenge. In later years Kraven was made a bit more dimensional, but the cinematic Kraven is essentially a different character, more along the lines of Marvel's Punisher. Kraven the Hunter treads lightly on the Marvel Universe, but while ignoring our web-head, does bring in such other Spider-Man foes as the Foreigner, the Rhino, and at the end, the Chameleon. 

A teenaged Kraven (Levi Miller) with Russell Crowe

Kraven is an extremely well-crafted action flick, with many well-directed battle sequences, superb cinematography by Ben Davis, good FX work, and excellent performances from a large cast. Taylor-Johnson plays Kraven in just the right note, adding insinuating sex appeal to the role as he goes about his violent and acrobatic business. Crowe is terrific as his father, with fine support from Fred Hechinger as his brother; Christopher Abbott as the slimy Foreigner, who can (sort of ) disappear; and Alessandro Nivola as Sytsevich/the Rhino, who underplays his part in a most sinister fashion. Levi Miller and Billy Barratt are also good as the Kravinoff siblings as teens. Ariana DeBose has little to do as Calypso, who saves Kraven's life after he's mauled by a tiger by giving him a special potion (which apparently accounts for his "marvelous" abilities), but I'm not certain if she's even a Marvel character. At the very end of the movie Kraven dons an outfit, a gift from his father, that is similar to the costume he donned in the comics. 

Verdict: Not too original but fun and exciting -- it never hurts to have a hot guy in the lead. ***. 

HEART EYES

HEART EYES (2025). Director: Josh Rubin.

A serial slayer known as HEK (Heart Eyes Killer) has already struck on Valentine's Day, targeting couples and others who get in his way, when he makes his presence known in grisly fashion in Seattle. Advertising woman Ally (Olivia Holt of Totally Killer) and newcomer Jay (Mason Gooding), carry on a budding, awkward romance while dodging attacks from the killer. Finally cornered, they find out the dread secret of the Heart Eyes maniac.

The Heart Eyes Killer

Heart Eyes begins with a sequence in a winery where a female victim is literally crushed in a wine press, her head being graphically smushed for the edification of disaffected gore geeks. Then we get a whole series of rom-com type scenes which are completely out of sync with the opening sequence. There's a scene when our young couple inadvertently lead the maniac to a drive-in theater, where he proceeds to hack and slash at dozens of people -- this is a highly uncomfortable reminder of such real-life scenes of slaughter (albeit this killer doesn't use a gun). 

Gooding and Holt

Okay, Heart Eyes doesn't get points for good taste, nor for its rather self-absorbed lead characters (Ally takes forever to start thinking about the many innocent victims and never really expresses much dismay over the people she literally sees killed right in front of her.) However, the climax, which has at least one surprise, is well-done and satisfying. Mason Gooding, an appealing actor, is the son of Cuba Gooding, Jr. 

Verdict: An odd mix of humor and gore that unlike the early Scream movies, doesn't quite work. **1/4. 

MONSTER ON THE CAMPUS

Eddie Parker in full make up

MONSTER ON THE CAMPUS (1958). Director: Jack Arnold. Colorized version.

Professor Donald Blake (Arthur Franz of The Flame Barrier) of Dunsford University is excited to receive the expensive acquisition of a coelacanth, a fish that dates back to the prehistoric era. Unfortunately, its blood has very negative effects on animals, including humans, with a dog temporarily going berserk, a dragonfly growing to giant size, and the professor himself turning into a grotesque, homicidal monster. His fiancee Madeline (Joanna Moore) is having trouble wrapping her head around the fact that her boyfriend is not exactly himself ... 

Walters, Franz, and Donahue

Since they have somewhat similar plots -- minus the coelacanth -- one might think that The Neanderthal Man is a shoddy imitation of the far superior Monster on the Campus, but the latter film actually came out five years later. Franz, who could be a reliable actor, is often quite perfunctory in this, merely walking through sequences in which he should have been much more emotional. Moore is fine, and we also have appearances by Troy Donahue as a science student and Nancy Walters as his gal pal Sylvia. Others in the cast include Ross Elliott as a cop, Richard H. Cutting as a forest ranger, Whit Bissell as a doctor, Phil Harvey as a sergeant, Hank Patterson as a night watchman, and Helen Westcott as the ill-fated nurse, Molly. When Franz transforms (via time lapse photography as well as a mask) into a monster, Eddie Parker takes over the role. Monster on the Campus is absorbing, well-directed by genre specialist Jack Arnold, and quite entertaining. Arnold, of course, directed Incredible Shrinking Man, Tarantula, Creature from the Black Lagoon, and many others. 

Verdict: Imperfect but satisfying fifties sci-fi horror with the usual jangling stock Universal score. ***. 

THE FOUR SKULLS OF JONATHAN DRAKE

Henry Daniell

THE FOUR SKULLS OF JONATHAN DRAKE (1959). Director: Edward L. Cahn. Colorized version. 

Jonathan Drake's (Eduard Franz) whole family has been under a curse for generations, a curse that has to do with Jivaro headhunters and revenge down in South America. Drake's ancestor killed a whole host of Indians in retaliation for their beheading an important crew member. Now every male member of the Drake family will die on his 60th birthday and be buried without their heads. After this happens to Jonathan's brother, Kenneth, (Paul Cavanagh), both his daughter, Alison (Valerie French) and Police Lt. Jeff Rowan (Grant Richards of Guns Girls and Gangsters) are afraid Jonathan might be next. 

Valerie French and Grant Richards

The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake is a gruesome hoot, a wild melange of shrunken heads (how they are processed is shown in detail), decapitations by machete, ancient Indians with their lips sewn together wearing moccasins made of human flesh, severed heads boiled in pots, and a centuries-old sinister figure with a white man's head stitched on top of an Indian's body! Skulls and heads show up at unexpected moments. The acting is all satisfactory, with Henry Daniell taking top honors in an underplayed performance as the sinister Dr. Zurich. Grant Richards has a brusque, butch style that works well for his role. 

Verdict: More shrunken heads than you can throw a stick at! ***. 

KING OF THE ROYAL MOUNTED

Allan Lane as Sgt. Dave King

KING OF THE ROYAL MOUNTED (12 chapter Republic serial/1940). Directors: John English; William Witney. Colorized version.

Tom Merritt (Stanley Andrews) has invented a serum, Compound X, that will help cure infantile paralysis, but he is unaware that his partner, Crandall (Bryant Washburn), is an enemy agent (of an unspecified nation) who wants to use the compound to make mines. Crandell, who watches as associate Garson (Harry Cording) murders Merritt, reports to a man named Kettler (Robert Strange). Tom Merritt's son, Tom Jr. (Robert Kellard) works with Sgt. Dave King (Allan Lane), whose father is Inspector King (Herbert Rawlinson) of the Canadian Royal Mounted. 

Kellard, Cording and Lane

Dave King and young Tom are unaware of Crandall's duplicity, but are perpetually endangered by the actions of Garson. Dave manages to survive a plane crash, and his father saves his life when he's tied to a buzzsaw and nearly dismembered, but unfortunately the elder King succumbs to a bullet. King of the Royal Mounted is based on a story (and subsequent comic strip) by Zane Grey. It is a fast-paced and entertaining serial, the first of two with Lane playing King, and the first of several serials about the Mounties. The climax takes place on an enemy submarine where Dave and Tom are to be blown out of the torpedo tubes, but one of them makes a heroic sacrifice to save the other. The entire cast give energetic and capable performances. 

Verdict: The Mounties get their man! ***.